Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Revenues [Abstract]
Property revenues	$ 5,106,369	$ 3,951,216
Investment income	7,979,784us-gaap_InvestmentIncomeNet	6,205,558us-gaap_InvestmentIncomeNet
Gain on sale of bonds	0atax_GainOnSaleAndRetirementOfBonds	2,835,243atax_GainOnSaleAndRetirementOfBonds
Interest Income, Operating	224,540us-gaap_InterestIncomeOperating	208,823us-gaap_InterestIncomeOperating
Total Revenues	13,310,693us-gaap_Revenues	13,200,840us-gaap_Revenues
Expenses [Abstract]
Real estate operating (exclusive of items shown below)	2,958,605atax_RealEstateOperatingExpense	2,100,293atax_RealEstateOperatingExpense
Depreciation and amortization	2,031,898	1,613,346
Interest	3,989,121us-gaap_InterestExpense	2,169,549us-gaap_InterestExpense
General and administrative	1,807,481us-gaap_GeneralAndAdministrativeExpense	1,270,926us-gaap_GeneralAndAdministrativeExpense
Total Expenses	10,787,105us-gaap_CostsAndExpenses	7,154,114us-gaap_CostsAndExpenses
Net income (loss)	2,523,588us-gaap_ProfitLoss	6,046,726us-gaap_ProfitLoss
Net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest	891	103
Net income (loss) - America First Tax Exempt Investors, L.P.	2,524,479us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss	6,046,829us-gaap_OperatingIncomeLoss
Net income (loss) allocated to:
General Partner	26,706	742,055
Limited Partners - Unitholders	2,643,939	5,417,545
Unallocated loss of Consolidated VIEs	(146,166)atax_UnallocatedLossOfConsolidatedVies	(112,771)atax_UnallocatedLossOfConsolidatedVies
Noncontrolling interest	$ (891)	$ (103)
Unitholders' interest in net income per unit (basic and diluted):
Net income (loss), basic and diluted, per unit	$ 0.04us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasicAndDiluted	$ 0.10us-gaap_EarningsPerShareBasicAndDiluted
Distributions declared, per unit	$ 0.125	$ 0.125
Weighted average number of units outstanding, basic and diluted	60,252,928	56,919,595

Gain on sale and retirement of bonds

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Real estate operating expenses normally associated with the operation of multi-family housing exclusive of interest expense, general and administrative expenses, and deprecreciation, depletion and amortization expenses.

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Net income or loss of consolidated variable interest entities not allocated to the general partner or limited partners.

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Total costs of sales and operating expenses for the period.

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The aggregate expense recognized in the current period that allocates the cost of tangible assets, intangible assets, or depleting assets to periods that benefit from use of the assets.

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Per unit of ownership amount of cash distributions declared to unit-holder of a limited partnership (LP).

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The amount of net income or loss for the period per each share in instances when basic and diluted earnings per share are the same amount and reported as a single line item on the face of the financial statements. Basic earnings per share is the amount of net income or loss for the period per each share of common stock or unit outstanding during the reporting period. Diluted earnings per share includes the amount of net income or loss for the period available to each share of common stock or common unit outstanding during the reporting period and to each share or unit that would have been outstanding assuming the issuance of common shares or units for all dilutive potential common shares or units outstanding during the reporting period.

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Amount of the cost of borrowed funds accounted for as interest expense.

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